4th Grade Diversity Lesson Plan

Teacher: Belma Rueda

Book: My Diary from Here to There, by Amada Irma Perez, 2002
Elementary Grade Level: 3rd – 5th

Multicultural Theme:
- Focusing on Mexican culture
- Immigration
- Adjusting to change
- Promoting tolerance and acceptance
- Civil rights
- Minority role models

Materials needed:
- Book My Diary from Here to There by Amada Irma Perez
- Pencils
- Journals
- World map
- Yarn
- Push pins
- Scissors

Standards:
- CCSS.ELA- Literacy. RL. 3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or
feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
- CCSS.ELA- Writing. W. 3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
- Geography SS.3.23 Describe how various cultures have interacted with and influenced each
other.
Objectives:
- Students will analyze how and why individuals, events and ideas develop over the course of the
text through group discussion with 90% accuracy.
- Students will utilize inspiration from various sources to write their own narrative of a real
experience or event using effective technique and detailed event sequence with 90% accuracy.
- Students will demonstrate how various cultures interact in a specific region by using visuals to
represent various immigration patterns with 95% accuracy.

Procedure:
- Introduce: Present the book My Diary from Here to There by Amada Irma Perez to the class.
“Today we will read about a young girl’s journey immigrating to the United States. Who can tell
me what immigration is and why it’s important to us as a society?” Have brief discussion.
- Read: Teacher reads the book aloud to the class, selecting students to read several small
passages throughout.

Discuss: Students will be presented with five questions. Allowing time between questions to reflect,
and discuss as a group the different viewpoints, and referring to the book for examples.

o Question 1: Why do you think Amada and her brothers reacted so differently to the
news that they were leaving Mexico and moving to the United States?
o Question 2: What emotions did Amada experience during the story and how did she
find comfort through them?
o Question 3: How does Papa telling Amada about his childhood experience help Amada
cope with the move?
o Question 4: Amada mentions that Mexico and the US are two different countries, but
they look exactly the same on both sides of the border; why do you think the author
mentions this?
o Question 5: Do you think your feelings might be like Amada’s if you were to immigrate
to another country, and what obstacles would you face?

Activities:
- Students will use yarn and push pins to show on a map where they or their family immigrated
from.
(Teacher will demonstrate using Amada’s journey as an example.) Amada traveled from Ciudad
Juarez in Mexico (put a pushpin on map) to Los Angeles (pushpin on map). Connect points with
yarn.
Teacher will have a pushpin in current location and assist students with putting pushpins into
the different locations they or their families have immigrated from. Students will connect the
pushpins to the central location using yarn. (Hands-on)
- Students will then write a short narrative about the points they have connected on the map, and
compare their or their family’s journey to Amada’s.
- Students will show their journey on the map to the class and share their narrative.
Evaluation: Teacher evaluates comprehension in reading by answers in discussion, and student
participation. Narrative content is graded based on a rubric of proper use of grade-level grammar and
content.